Editor defends new abuse pics publication

The British-based editor of an Arabic newspaper has defended the publication of new photographs of abuse at Iraq's Abu Ghraib jail.

The images of US troops ill-treating prisoners in 2003, broadcast by Australian television network SBS, sparked fury in Iraq and beyond.

A senior official in the US Defence Department said the pictures could "inflame and possibly incite unnecessary violence" and would put military personnel at risk.

But Abdul Bari Atwan, editor of the London-based Al Quds newspaper, argued it was right to publish the pictures in order to show the "ugly side of the occupation" in Iraq.

He said: "We have to be reminded of what is happening in Iraq now. Iraq is under occupation, there is no law and order, it is full-blooded anarchy.

"So I think this is a shock reminder to everybody that this occupation is not working, this adventure in Iraq was very costly."

He went on: "This is the America that went to Iraq in order to promote democracy and human rights.

"It is essential to see these images to prove that they are not there for human rights.

"Incidentally, Saddam Hussein is charged and tried because of abuses in Abu Ghraib, so I think this will remind everybody that what the Americans are doing in Iraq is actually not much different from what Saddam Hussein used to do," he told GMTV.

Mr Bari Atwan compared the publication of the photographs with the printing of cartoons satirising the Prophet Mohammed, which has led to protests by Muslims around the world.

Freedom of speech

He said: "We are arguing about freedom of speech. When they published the insulting images of the Prophet Mohammed, the holiest man in Islam, they said this is freedom of speech."

The graphic images appeared to show dead bodies, wounded prisoners and inmates performing sex acts.

It said they were taken at the same time as the pictures which sparked the first scandal over the treatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib.

Some of the newly-published images appeared to show reservist Charles Graner, who was also in the first set of photographs and was subsequently jailed for 10 years.

They emerged just as British troops were facing a backlash in southern Iraq following the publication of a video showing soldiers beating Iraqi youths in al-Amarah.

Three British soldiers are being interviewed over the video, which showed the Iraqis being punched, kicked and headbutted by troops, accompanied by a leering commentary.

On Sunday night the Royal Military Police arrested Corporal Martin Webster of the 1st Battalion, Light Infantry, who is thought to have filmed the footage.

Bryan Whitman, spokesman for the US Defence Department, said the abuses of Abu Ghraib had been fully investigated, with more than 25 people being held accountable for criminal acts and "other failures".

"When there have been abuses, this department has acted on them promptly, investigated them thoroughly and, where appropriate, prosecuted individuals," he added.

Another defence official said the newly-published photographs had been matched to images turned over to military authorities in Iraq by a US soldier in 2004, and contained no new information about abuse.

'No reason to publish photographs'

Australian Prime Minister John Howard today suggested there was no reason to publish the photographs if they depicted acts that have already been exposed and prosecuted.

He added: "If further abuse has occurred then I unreservedly condemn it. But can I say immediately, in defence of the Americans, they are doing something about it."

Human rights and anti-war campaigners in Britain yesterday condemned the abuse depicted in the new photographs.

A spokesman for the Stop the War Coalition said the images showed "a systematic policy of torturing inmates".

He said: "The people responsible for these policies should be brought to account.

"The war is illegal and these images are absolutely disgraceful.

"They are symptomatic of it being an army of occupation in Iraq.

"It is hated by people in Iraq, as you can see by the demonstrations in Basra yesterday.

"We call on all occupation forces to leave Iraq. These abuses will continue while they remain."

Amnesty International called for a full investigation into the latest images, which it said were part of a pattern of abuse by the US military.

"Contrary to what US officials have said, we have strong reason to believe that these cases of apparent prisoner abuse are by no means isolated incidents.

"Abu Ghraib abuses are not an aberration, but part of a pattern.

"Abusive interrogation techniques developed for use in Afghanistan and Guantanamo have later emerged in Iraq.

"These have included hooding, sensory deprivation, isolation and the use of stress positions - as well as techniques of humiliation and degradation, including forced shaving, forced nakedness and the use of dogs for intimidation."

The human rights organisation called for all those responsible for abuse of prisoners to be brought to justice, and demanded an end to immunity for high ranking US officials over the scandal.

"While a handful of US soldiers have been court-martialled for their role in high-profile abuses in Iraq and Afghanistan, senior administration officials have remained free from independent scrutiny, despite having authorised practices amounting to torture or ill-treatment."